> Quote:I can give you a very special present. Just keep in mind that it's not yours

wow. that was some... ¨refreshing¨ comments, oh well, I need to work on my style anyway.

----------------------------------------

¨why should I come with you?¨ I asked, rolling over, and looking up at a woman who... I couldn't describe how she looked, each moment her skin, and eyes changed shades slightly every second. Her hair appeared to be a vibrant red, but it shifted through all the shades of red as I looked.

¨I ask the questions, not you.¨ she growled, her harsh voice somehow accentuating her beauty even more. ¨Now come with me.¨ she said, grabbing me, and slinging me over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Then she started running, faster than I thought a human could run, so fast that the landscape blurred around us, approximately halfway through the trip I heard a voice in my head, one that came from without, rather than within

´Welcome to the journey, traveler of shadow, the never-ending bulwark` said the voice, and then it was gone. Only then did I realize that a connection had been severed

¨Why do you have the same mark as my mistress on your back?¨ my captor asked unexpectedly, still running so fast that the surroundings blurred. 

¨There´s a mark on my back?¨ I asked surprised, last I checked which was two years ago, my back had a few scars, but no tattoos or marks

¨Of course there is, that type of mark is there since birth!¨  she growled, punctuating her sentence with a stomp that shattered the ground. ¨How could you not know you had a traveler´s mark?¨

¨Traveler`s mark?¨ I asked innocently. She came to a screeching halt, looked me in the eyes and said

¨You´re not from this world, are you?¨

¨Whatever gave you that impression?¨ I asked, curious to find out how she figured out my secret.

¨You have a veritable ignorance of common knowledge that even a hermit would have known,¨ she said, pacing in front of me. ¨This changes things... no matter, you`ll still meet my mistress.¨

¨Your mistress?¨ I asked as she slung me over her shoulder again and started running.

¨The greatest spellsinger and a mighty warrior with or without magic, not that you´d be able to touch her in combat.¨ she said, sounding very proud at having such a powerful mistress

*I have hypothesized that her mistress is likely the one that contacted you with telepathy earlier.* Rachel said, breaking the silence in my mind.

´why haven´t you spoke to me recently` I asked of Rachel

*When you were contacted via telepathy, I had to shut down in order to not be found, the process of waking up is rather difficult*

`interesting, why did you hypothesize that?´

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

*It´s quite simple, really. All thoughts have a ´flavor` if you will, and the flavor of the telepath that contacted us is very similar to the flavor of your captor*

´Makes sense.`

*What will confirm or deny my theory is this person´s blood relation to her mistress, generally the closer the relation the more similar the scent*

´So, identical twins will have practically the same flavor?`

*Actually, it´s more common for a brother and sister pair born within three years of each other to have the same flavor. Don´t ask me why.*

While me and Rachel had been conversing, time had gone by and we arrived at a... camp? no, it was more like a fortress that could be packed up and moved from place to place. I was awestruck by the sheer size of the place. It rivaled a major league baseball field in size! Heavily armed men and women were everywhere, in about a 40:60 ratio. Just enough to be obvious, but not enough to make it seem gender-biased. I also noticed that there was an abundance of serpents about the fort, patrolling with the guards, feasting themselves on something that looked a lot like a mouse, and simply lazing about. Then I noticed that the male guard talking with my captor seemed to be referring to himself as lesser, but he wasn´t referring to her as greater. Did that mean that males were less important than females in this society, or was that because of the person he was speaking to? there were so many things to learn. When we started down the road in the middle of the fort, I noticed that everyone was staring at us, no more correctly, at me. Why was that; was it my being a ¨traveler¨ or because I was seeing my captor´s mistress or because I was a captive?

¨a traveler, huh?¨

¨after so long...¨

¨I hope he joins our clan.¨

those were just a few of the words I could make out in the din. Well, one of my questions was answered, the reason I was capturing the interest of the entire fort was because I had become, or had the potential to be, a traveler.

´Welcome back, Kara.¨ the words flowed into my head like I would hear in a normal conversation 

¨I greet my mistress and turn over the traveler canidate to you. You will know best of what to do with him.¨ and with that, my captor, apparently called Kara turned and walked away, before stopping, turning around, and coming back. ¨mistress, we have an unconfirmed report of a Bloody Blades caravan three ri to the West.¨ then she clapped her fist to her chest, pivoted and walked away.

´Now we take a look at you, hm´ came a voice into my mind, it made me so unbelievably tired, and I couldn´t  stay awake